Join the Q4 Planning Workshop For Writers! Plus: An exclusive interview with Canada's top travel blogger

Join my interactive two hour workshop on Sept 29 and end your 2023 work year on a high note! Plus - I chat with top travel blogger Pamela MacNaughtan.

Happy Monday and Happy Labour Day!

A special welcome to new subscribers who were added after signing up to be part of my upcoming FREE workshop on the basics of freelance writing. (Join us! It takes place on September 21st at 3:00 PM, and you can see all the details here).

Speaking about workshops… I hope you’ll join my Q4 Planning Workshop for freelance writers (and other creative folks) on Sept 29th.

This two hour interactive workshop takes place on Zoom and starts at 10:00 AM. I would love to have you there so we can plan how to end 2023 on a high note!

After this workshop you will be able to:

• Identify High-Value Work Activities: Think more bylines, less busy-ness during what many writers feel is the most challenging time of the year.

• Salvage Your 2023 Goals with Actionable Steps: Who says it’s too late to smash your way through your 2023 list of goals and projects? There’s still A LOT of time to make things happen and we’ll work together to break down how it will happen.

• Recharge Your Creativity: Forget AI and X (or whatever Twitter is calling itself these days). Let’s look at brainstorming story ideas, developing creative projects, and selling our artistic services without compromising our integrity and ideals.

Grab your early bird ticket for just $49!

What I’ve Been Reading 

(Speaking of books and stuff….. On the second Thursday of each month, we meet online as the Thursday Murder (Book) Club! We discuss a different cozy, British-style mystery book each month. Everyone is welcome to join in! On September 14th, we’re reading Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Sutanto. I LOVED this book! It’s one of my fav so far, and I hope you’ll join us for the discussion!)

• I’m obsessed with this concept: Tiny forests! They’re not just cute – they’re ecological powerhouses and will change how we imagine cities.

• I wish more than anything that I had written this article. Wait. I wish I had done what this author has done: She explored the public pools in Paris. Why didn’t I think of that? I just loved reading about this (and I picked up a new motto from Parisian pool lovers: We don’t swim to be thin!)

• The Last Tudor by Phillipa Gregory. If you enjoyed Gregory’s blockbuster books The Red Queen and The White Queen, this fictionalized account of three sisters (including the famous Lady Jane Grey) will delight you.

• Code Name Sapphire by Pam Jenoff: This World War II era novel uses Rue de Babylone (my street when I lived in Paris!!!) as the setting for one of its safe houses.

• The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda: A thriller that examines what we owe ourselves and others in our grief.

And finally, this poem

What I’ve Been Writing

• I wrote about apple picking for the Toronto Star and was thrilled to mention a place I’m obsessed with: A living apple museum home to 300 rare apple varieties! 

• Who says you must say goodbye to summer just because it’s September? I wrote about ways to enjoy late summer lemonade for Cottage Life.

• For Matador, I wrote about this unique Florida island that is open only seven hours a day.

PS: Wanting more bylines to end out your year? Sign up for my Q4 planning workshop!

An exclusive interview with Canada’s top travel blogger

Pamela MacNaughtan took home the top travel blogging prize at this summer’s Travel Media Association of Canada’s awards night. That’s no small honour! Pamela is the voice behind UrbanGuideQuebec.com and I wanted to ask her for her insights on what motivates her to travel, write, blog, and explore and she came back with some pretty amazing answers. Read on for your daily dose of inspiration!

Tell us a little about yourself

Hello, I’m Pamela, a travel and food writer based in Quebec City. I was born in a small mining town north of Jasper, Alberta, and grew up in Winnipeg and small town Ontario (Orangeville mostly). I started out as a blogger in 2010 with a website called SpunkyGirl Monologues, which became Savoir Faire Abroad. These days, I run a site called Urban Guide Quebec. 

As a freelance writer, I have worked with Quebec City Tourism, Lonely Planet, Going, Yahoo! Travel, Bootsnall, Saintlo, et al. I have also updated guidebooks on Canada and Quebec for Michelin Green Guides and DK Eyewitness. I have multiple Instagram accounts, and I can be found on the bird app until it fully implodes (which could be any day now).